Tote bag

ABSTRACT

A tote bag includes a semi-rigid sack wall dependently and upwardly disposed about a rigid base to present an upwardly oriented mouth. The semi-rigid sack wall is affixed at the lower edges thereof to the separately constructed rigid base, which generally includes an outer perimetrical frame and an inner perimetrical frame, the outer perimetrical frame and the inner perimetrical frame cooperating to dependently support an interiorly disposed, wire mesh and to anchor the lower edges of the semi-rigid sack walls. A removable panel is included to selectively close the bottom of the tote bag.

RELATED APPLICATION

This present application claims all available benefit under 35 U.S.C.§119(e) of co-pending U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.61/277,901 filed Sep. 30, 2009. By this reference, the full disclosure,including the drawings, of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No.61/277,901 is incorporated herein as though now set forth in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to personal accessories. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to a tote bag particularly adaptedfor outdoor use and, especially, for use as a beach bag, a gardeningbag, a fishing bag or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Tote bags of wide variety are routinely found in use during recreationalactivities, such as trips to the beach, as well as in the furtherance ofhobbies or home activities, such as gardening. Such a tote bag asheretofore know in the arts generally comprises a canvas or likematerial sack having one or more handles affixed thereto. Unfortunately,and especially in the types of activities previously noted, such priorart tote bags are prone to falling over and spilling out of theircontents. Additionally, whether through falling over or as a consequenceof use, such tote bags also often become filled with soil or sand, whichsoil or sand is generally difficult to remove from the bag and canrarely be removed without first removing from the bag any contents.Still further, the canvas or like material forming the base of suchprior art tote bags is generally placed directly in contact with oftenwet sand or soil as commonly found in beach or garden areas, causing thesack itself to become wet and/or muddy, further frustrating the cleaningprocess and, as a result, negatively impacting the practical utility ofsuch bags.

With the forgoing disadvantages and limitations of the prior art inmind, it is an overriding object of the present invention to improveover the prior art by providing a tote bag that is particularly adaptedfor use in the type of environments encountered in the described andsimilar activities. More particularly, it is an object of the presentinvention to provide a tote bag that is prone to remaining generallyupright while in use, thereby reducing the ingress to the bag of sandand soil. Additionally, it is an object of the present invention toprovide such a tote bag that is also provided with some measure ofprotection from direct contact of sack materials with wet sand or soil.Still further, it is an object of the present invention to provide sucha tote bag wherein any sand or soil that should enter the bag isrelatively easily cleaned therefrom, the cleaning process being simpleand effective without generally requiring removal from the tote bag ofany contents thereof. Finally, it is an object of the present inventionto provide such a tote bag that is economical to manufacture andaesthetically pleasing in appearance, such that the tote bag may be aswidely as possible distributed to an accepting population of consumers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the foregoing objects, the present invention—a totebag particularly adapted for outdoor use—generally comprises apreferably semi-rigid sack wall dependently and upwardly disposed abouta rigid base to present an upwardly oriented mouth. The semi-rigid sackwall is affixed at the lower edges thereof to the separately constructedrigid base, which generally comprises an outer perimetrical frame and aninner perimetrical frame, the outer perimetrical frame and the innerperimetrical frame being cooperatively adapted to dependently support aninteriorly disposed, wire mesh and to anchor the lower edges of thesemi-rigid sack walls. A removable panel may also be included toselectively close the bottom of the tote bag, preventing travel throughthe mesh of contained material.

Finally, many other features, objects and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the relevantarts, especially in light of the foregoing discussions and the followingdrawings, exemplary detailed description and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the scope of the present invention is much broader than anyparticular embodiment, a detailed description of the preferredembodiment follows together with illustrative figures, wherein likereference numerals refer to like components, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows, in a partially cut away side perspective view, thepreferred embodiment of the tote bag of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows, in cross sectional view taken through cut line 2-2 of FIG.1, details of one preferred manner for construction of the tote bag ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows, in a partially cutaway side perspective view, variousdetails of one extension of the invention of the tote bag as otherwiseshown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 shows, in a cross sectional view taken through cut line 4-4 ofFIG. 3, various additional details of the extension of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Although those of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize manyalternative embodiments, especially in light of the illustrationsprovided herein, this detailed description is exemplary of the preferredembodiment of the present invention, the scope of which is limited onlyby the claims appended hereto.

Referring now to the figures and to FIG. 1 in particular, the tote bag10 of the present invention is shown to generally comprise a preferablysemi-rigid sack wall 11 dependently and upwardly disposed about a rigidbase 16 to present upwardly oriented mouth 12. As will be betterappreciated herein, the semi-rigid sack wall 11 itself has no integralbase, but rather is affixed at the lower edges 15 thereof to theseparately constructed rigid base 16. As shown in various levels ofdetail in FIGS. 1 through 4, the preferred embodiment of the rigid base16 of the present invention generally comprises an outer perimetricalframe 17 and an inner perimetrical frame 28, the outer perimetricalframe 17 and the inner perimetrical frame 28 being cooperatively adaptedto dependently support an interiorly disposed wire mesh 26 and to anchorthe lower edges 15 of the semi-rigid sack walls 11.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 through 4 in particular, the outer perimetricalframe 17 is shown to preferably comprise a plurality of rabbeted,elongate blocks 18 joined together in mitered edges 22. As shown in thefigures, the outer perimetrical frame thus constructed comprises avertically oriented portion 19 and a horizontally oriented portion 20,which together, as shown in the figures, form an interiorly orientedshelf about the outer perimetrical frame. In order to begin assembly ofthe tote bag 10 of the present invention, a plurality of feet 23, suchas may comprise rectilinear blocks 24 are affixed about the corners ofthe outer perimetrical frame 17 with conventional mounting hardware,such as screws 25 or the like, disposed through the horizontallyoriented portion of the frame 17. The feet 23 in place, the wire mesh26, which preferably comprises a 0.25 inch by 0.25 inch to 0.5 inch to0.5 inch square mesh of approximately 18 to 19 gauge welded wire coatedwith a polymer, is supported at its outer edges atop the horizontallyoriented portion 20 of the outer frame 17 with the outermost edges 27 ofthe mesh 26 upturned to rest adjacent to the interior face of thevertically oriented portion 19 of the outer frame 17. With the loweredges 15 of the sack walls 11 disposed generally adjacent the verticallyoriented portion 19 of the outer frame 17, the upturned outermost edges27 of the wire mesh 26 being preferably interposed the lower edges 15 ofthe of the sack wall 11 and the outer perimetrical frame 17, the innerperimetrical frame is inserted through the open mouth 12 of the sackwall 11 and friction fit against the lower edges 15 of the sack wall 11in order to securely press or “sandwich” the interposed lower edges 15of the sack wall 11 and the upturned outermost edges 27 of the mesh 26between to inner frame 28 and outer frame 17. In order to ensurestability of construction, however, the inner frame 28 is thenpreferably affixed to the outer frame 17 with conventional mountinghardware such as, for example, screws 33 inserted through the verticallyoriented portion 19 of the outer frame 17.

The inner perimetrical frame 28, which is preferably constructed from aplurality of elongate blocks 29 joined together in mitered edges 30, maybe reinforced with the provision of gussets 31 or the like. For example,as shown in the figures, preferably triangular blocks 33 may beconventionally disposed in the interior corners of the inner frame 28 inorder to enhance the structural integrity thereof.

As particularly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the tote bag 10 of the presentinvention may optionally be provided with a removable panel 34dependently supported on grooves or rabbets 36 formed about the distaledges 21 of the horizontally oriented portion 20 of the outer frame 17.In this manner, sand or soil collected in the interior of the bag 10 maybe prevented from falling out through the mesh 26 when, for example,travelling by car or entering a household. In order to allow sand orsoil to freely escape, however, the panel 34 may be removed by slidingit out of a provided slot 35 through a section of the outer frame 17.

While the foregoing description is exemplary of the preferred embodimentof the present invention, those of ordinary skill in the relevant artswill recognize the many variations, alterations, modifications,substitutions and the like as are readily possible, especially in lightof this description and the accompanying drawings. For example,conventional handles 13 such as, for example, straps 14 of canvas of thelike may be conventionally attached to the outer faces of the sack walls11 by, for example, stitching or the like. Such handles 13, in additionto facilitating carrying of the tote bag 10, also allow the bag 10 to besharply banged onto its feet 23 to encourage removal through the mesh 16of sand or soil.

Additionally, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that invarious applications materials other than canvas may be desired in theconstruction of the sack walls 11. Likewise, it will be recognized thatthe frames 17, 28 may comprise any of a variety of materials such as,for example, white oak, which is known to be a strong and stable lumberthat readily accepts waterproofing treatments such as, for example,boiled linseed oil and the open mesh 26 may be manufactured of anyrelatively strong material, including some plastics and textilematerials. In any case, because the scope of the present invention ismuch broader than any particular embodiment, the foregoing detaileddescription should not be construed as a limitation of the scope of thepresent invention, which is limited only by the claims appended hereto.

1. A tote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use, said tote bagcomprising: a rigid base, said rigid base comprising a perimetricalframe; a semi-rigid sack wall, said sack wall being dependently andupwardly disposed about said rigid base; and an open mesh interiorlydisposed substantially within said perimetrical frame, said open meshthereby forming the bottom of the tote bag.
 2. The tote bag particularlyadapted for outdoor use as recited in claim 1, wherein said open meshcomprises a wire mesh.
 3. The tote bag particularly adapted for outdooruse as recited in claim 2, wherein said wire mesh comprises a polymercoating.
 4. The tote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use as recitedin claim 1, wherein said perimetrical frame comprises an outerperimetrical frame and an inner perimetrical frame.
 5. The tote bagparticularly adapted for outdoor use as recited in claim 4, wherein saidouter perimetrical frame and said inner perimetrical frame arecooperatively adapted to support said interiorly disposed open mesh. 6.The tote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use as recited in claim 5,wherein said outer perimetrical frame and said inner perimetrical frameare cooperatively adapted to anchor the lower edges of said semi-rigidsack wall.
 7. The tote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use asrecited in claim 5, wherein said outer perimetrical frame and said innerperimetrical frame are further cooperatively adapted to anchor the loweredges of said semi-rigid sack wall.
 8. The tote bag particularly adaptedfor outdoor use as recited in claim 7, wherein said outer perimetricalframe comprises a vertically oriented portion and a horizontallyoriented portion, said vertically oriented portion and said horizontallyoriented portion forming an interiorly oriented shelf.
 9. The tote bagparticularly adapted for outdoor use as recited in claim 8, wherein saidouter perimetrical frame comprises a plurality of rabbeted, elongateblocks.
 10. The tote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use as recitedin claim 9, wherein said plurality of blocks are joined together inmitered edges to form said outer perimetrical frame.
 11. The tote bagparticularly adapted for outdoor use as recited in claim 8, wherein saidinner perimetrical frame and said vertically oriented portion of saidouter perimetrical frame sandwich the lower edges of said sack wall,thereby anchoring said sack wall.
 12. The tote bag particularly adaptedfor outdoor use as recited in claim 8, wherein said inner perimetricalframe and said horizontally oriented portion of said outer perimetricalframe sandwich the outer edges of said open mesh in dependent support ofsaid open mesh.
 13. The tote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use asrecited in claim 12, wherein said inner perimetrical frame and saidvertically oriented portion of said outer perimetrical frame sandwichthe outer edges of said open mesh in dependent support of said openmesh.
 14. The tote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use as recitedin claim 13, wherein said inner perimetrical frame and said verticallyoriented portion of said outer perimetrical frame further sandwich thelower edges of said sack wall, thereby anchoring said sack wall.
 15. Thetote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use as recited in claim 14,wherein the lower edges of said sack wall are disposed to the interiorside of the outer edges of said open mesh.
 16. The tote bag particularlyadapted for outdoor use as recited in claim 14, said tote bag furthercomprising a removable panel adapted to prevent escape through the openmesh of material contained within the interior of the tote bag.
 17. Thetote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use as recited in claim 7,said tote bag further comprising a removable panel adapted to preventescape through the open mesh of material contained within the interiorof the tote bag.
 18. The tote bag particularly adapted for outdoor useas recited in claim 4, said tote bag further comprising a removablepanel adapted to prevent escape through the open mesh of materialcontained within the interior of the tote bag.
 19. The tote bagparticularly adapted for outdoor use as recited in claim 2, said totebag further comprising a removable panel adapted to prevent escapethrough the open mesh of material contained within the interior of thetote bag.
 20. The tote bag particularly adapted for outdoor use asrecited in claim 1, said tote bag further comprising a removable paneladapted to prevent escape through the open mesh of material containedwithin the interior of the tote bag.